This is the one good thing about being a cop. Not a 401k but 7% interest compounded annually and they match 175% of my contribution which is 7% of my paycheck. I do some individual investing too but that's the bulk of my retirement plan

You definitely want to invest in a 401K. You want that in addition to 401K.
Look up compounded interest while you are at it and you will see why it's also good to start saving early.

You can ignore Joe's nonsense about Ponzi's schemes. He's going to retire on the canned goods he's buried on his survival ranch.

Nah, SS is a ponzi scheme. Right now, retirees are not getting the money out of it that they put in.

SS needs to be paid back by the federal government after all the surpluses they have were sold as government bonds. The federal government is unable to pay it back because it's in such a large debt.

Any surplus is used to pay down the government deficit...not for safekeeping to pay you back when you retire. It's a bullshit trust fund. Why can't I just take the money for myself and do what I want with it? Why does the government think they have to take care of me? If I'm supposed to be getting that money back when I retire, why not just give it to me now and let me invest it.

You're living in lala land if you don't think the uncertainty for young people like me isn't logical. (You're old...that's why.)

Social Security is designed to provide social equity to retirees while keeping individual benefits in mind. What exactly makes you think SS is worse than a Ponzi scheme? You believe that people put money in a system where they will not get any money or benefit out of it?

Because that is incorrect, throughout the entire lifetime of social security, the system has been reformed multiple times to ensure those who contribute money in are eligible for benefit collection. Since its inception in the 1930s, it's had no trouble paying any retirees despite economical turmoil and increasing life expectancies.

There is almost no possibility that social security checks will be cancelled with present day contributors seeing 0 cents on the dollar. Even post-bankruptcies of the most corrupt organizations liquidate to provide partial relief on losses. It is comical to think the US government would be able to get away with providing no benefit to 99% of the US population.

IF absolutely no reform actions are taken, then in 2017 the social security trust fund is expected to decrease. In 2027, the trust fund will evaporate, and in 2040 total program outgo will be greater than cash inflow.

What most people don't know is that long-term financial balance (70 years) of the plan can be achieved by increasing social security tax from 12.40% to 14.42%. In case you didn't know, you pay 6.2% of your income to SS, and your employer pays the other half. If you are self-employed you pay the whole 12.40%.

What a terrible thought! They want to increase our tax by 2.02% !?!? That's just not American! Nevermind the fact that we are the ones who threw the plan out of balance by living longer or the fact that fluctuations in our population (baby boomers) are causing financial volatility within the plan. We were okay when you increased social security tax from 2% to 6% from the 1930s to 1960s, and we were fine with an increase from 6% - 10% from the 60s to 1980. And then when you increased it again to 12.4% in 1990 we didn't have a problem. But we're putting our foot down this time!

So by the time I'll retire, the SS tax rate will be 20%. You can't keep that up. And "we" didn't **** up anything, the government did by not being able to keep up. I'm a young american who makes good money. I'm tired of being fucked over by the population who keeps voting these morons into office. Less people are worker while more people are retiring. Why should pay for their benefits if you can't guarantee that I'll get them when I retire? You can't just increase taxes.